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My Point of View #3

So that's that, here it is, one more year, just like every year.And it seems as if it was just a few days ago, when in fact a whole year has gone by…oh, how time flies! But that's a matter for some other day.

Because today I want to talk about this date that moves both young and old, high flying senior executives and housewives alike; Catalans born in Catalonia and Catalans born outside of Catalonia.A date with no opposition. A date that is unique.

For a few days we become intoxicated with a sensation of happiness, of sentiment both childish and touching. In fact, every time this date draws near it's as if the city had become a little paralysed and a layer of complicity had covered the streets and people. You're telling me! Barcelona! A city used to great events, to historical appointments, to acts that go out around the world…This city appears in all the guides of the shameless world, taking pride in being one of the most visited and consequently, most talked about cities on the planet; this city that boasts of having the most eclectic avant-garde and the strongest tradition; that is just as likely to serve you a cup of thick hot chocolate with sponge fingers as a spherical aubergine; for days now this city has been in a state of excitement…

In fact it's just a question of paying attention. Haven't you noticed that the streets are cooler recently? That people find it easier to smile when they're walking along the city's mean streets? Prick up your ears and you'll hear that the topic of conversation among many people is this one and no other. People seem to be carrying on with their normal lives, but don't be deceived! the days leading up to the Great Day are no more than a process of killing time and not becoming desperate from waiting. Because really, how can one think about anything else when 'it' is about to happen?

And when it does arrive, for a few hours, we will take off our work clothes, stop driving the taxi, pull down the blinds and put away the dishes so that we can fully enjoy that short while in the company of our loved ones. A while that we wish were longer, when we revive feelings that we had left behind in the drawers of our frenetic daily struggle. We may complicity see ourselves with somebody close or even dare to hug them if appropriate…and all this, just because the Great Day approaches.

And it may be a bit prissy, and perhaps it is true that every year is the same, and perhaps in the end it will be just another product of frenzied consumerism, but what the heck! There's only one Barça Madrid!

Ah! And Happy Christmas!

A QUESTION: Why Barcelona? AN ANSWER: Because in summer it's hot and in winter it's cold…shouldn't it always be that way?